I'm so happy this has all calmed down and cooler heads have prevailed. Nobody needs to get fired after all
What we have though is some good news this morning for Hamilton!!
--finally-- !!
40,000 people in Hamilton for three days !! all ending in time for the Grey Cup Game. Imagine the possibilities if the Tiger-Cats are in the Grey Cup ? We can get all these visitors to stay at Copps on Sunday evening and set up some portable big screens for all of us Tiger-Cat fans!!
This is a major catch for Hamilton!!
Congratulations to the Mayor, people of Six Nations of the Grand, Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation and everyone else involved in bringing this fantastic event to Hamilton (where it should have been all along)!!
I hope Stan Jonathon (former Boston Bruin and Six Nations born and bred) brings Don Cherry to do some drumming. :lol:
Toronto didn't give organizers enough respect
April 08, 2009
Graham Rockingham
The Hamilton Spectator
(Apr 8, 2009)
To the Cayuga of the Six Nations, Hamilton is known as Kah-nah-go' -- which means the place "in the valley."
For the next three years, Kah-nah-go' (the phonetic spelling of the word) will host the largest native powwow in the country.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger joined local native leaders yesterday to announce that the 16th annual Canadian Aboriginal Festival will be held in downtown Hamilton Nov. 26 to 29, with as many as 40,000 people in attendance.
It will mark the first time the event has been held outside Toronto, and festival organizers say they hope to make Hamilton its permanent home, guaranteeing that it will remain here for at least the next three years.
"It's quite a coup for Hamilton to host this great aboriginal event," the mayor told a news conference yesterday at Copps Coliseum, one of the host venues for the festival. "Every time we take one away from Toronto, it brings a little bit of joy."
Organizers said they found Toronto's much larger Rogers Centre too costly to continue booking for the event.
"We've found a new home here at Copps Coliseum," said Bryan LaForme, chief of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation and a member of the festival board. "The welcome mat that Hamilton has put out for us has been great, something not experienced with the City of Toronto."
Festival program director Ron Robert said the festival never got the support or promotion it deserved from Toronto.
He also said he tried to meet with officials from Rogers Centre several times last year to discuss money issues but never got an answer.
"I couldn't even get a meeting with them," Robert said about his dealings with Rogers Centre. "And we'd been there 15 years. That says a lot to me. So I thought I'd better start looking around."
Jay Stenhouse, vice-president of communications for the 50,000-seat Rogers Centre, said officials from the Toronto sports and entertainment venue didn't know the festival was moving to Hamilton until they were informed by The Spectator.
"All I can tell you is that we've still got dates in November booked for them," said Stenhouse, stressing Rogers Centre's rates were competitive with anything else in Toronto. "We wish them well at the smaller venue."
The festival will kick off with a gala dinner at the Hamilton Convention Centre on Thursday, Nov. 26, and continue with an educational day on Friday, Nov. 27, at Copps, expected to draw more than 6,000 elementary school students.
"Copps Coliseum will become one of the world's largest classrooms," Robert said.
"The students come away with an entirely different perspective of who we are."
The 11th annual Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards will follow on the Friday evening at Hamilton Place.
The main festival or powwow will take place throughout the day Saturday, Nov. 28, and Sunday, Nov. 29, at Copps Coliseum, with more than 800 native dancers and entertainers from across North America participating.
The festival is also expected to feature a lacrosse skills competition, fashion show and 250 booths offering First Nations crafts, food and displays.
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/545047